Jormungand – 02

We have a special guest today. Her name is Koko and she is a bit loco, but she’ll teach you everything you’ll ever need to know about arms dealing!

Official HCLI Corporation Arms Dealer Guide ver.Koko

**FOR HCLI USE ONLY. ALL OTHERS IN POSSESSION WILL BE TERMINATED WITHOUT QUESTION.

An arms dealer must always know every weapon in existence, whether it’s a Stinger, Hind E, or every variety of infrared sensor available on the continent. Failure to have such knowledge will allow rival dealers like the British CCAT to encroach on our territory and our earnings, lead to an inability to create deals, and may lead to an immediate death.

An arms dealer must be capable of making quick decisions in any scenario. One must know when to negotiate and when other, more extreme or unorthodox tactics will be likely to result in a more favorable situation. Remember that violence may not always be the answer and that a quick escape utilizing everything and everyone at one’s disposal may be a better alternative.

An arms dealer must possess great instincts and guts. One’s gut feeling is correct more often than not. This may be one’s key to survival, even in the grimmest of situations. When all else fails, luck is quite a large factor as well.

An arms dealer must be able to gather his/her own group of loyal and capable bodyguards. One must then be able to organize them in a proper manner and command them to ensure to success of an operation. The use of hand signals and deception are a must.

And the rest? You’ll just have to find out yourself. WARNING: THIS PAPER WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS.

Fake lesson plans aside, it’s amazing just how much you can learn by watching one episode of Jormungand. I mean, I think I just learned more in this one episode than I have in all of of my three years of college! Okay, I’ll admit that’s probably just a bit exaggerated. Maybe. Regardless, there is one thing I know for sure, and it’s that Jormungand continues to amaze as one of the best shows of a great season. Yes, the episode itself is a straight forward continuation of the first episode and once again demonstrates how Koko and her comrades do their jobs, but there’s just so much subtle goodness inserted in between.

For one, there’s the random comedic moments that are sprinkled throughout, many of which are capable of making you laugh out loud in real life. Typically only a few seconds in length, they’re a testament to how well comedy works when done correctly, and how even shows with a serious premise and atmosphere can utilize it to their advantage. What makes it even more amazing is how the comedy also serves as a character development tool, as it also shows how crazy Koko and her comrades can be. In turn, this makes the contrast just so much greater when we see how serious they can also be, and demonstrates the deepness behind each character, as well as the quality of the overall work.

Then there’s also the subtle alteration we’re seeing in Jonah’s behavior as well. It’s nothing major and is merely a laugh and the realization that Koko’s not just any arms dealer, as well as the fact that a battlefield doesn’t have to involve bullets all the time, but we’re seeing the potential beginning of changes in his character due to Koko’s antics. It’s barely noticeable and some may even say I’m grasping at straws a bit, considering he also laughed in the first episode, but I feel like there’s something developing on that front, especially with that preview. But if there is one thing this show does, it’s make sure the characters and the developments are anything but what you’d expect, so the preview may yet be a red herring of sorts.

Overall though, virtually everyone should be watching this show. I know the show isn’t necessarily down everyone’s alley and that some people came in expecting something similar to Black Lagoon and are disappointed with the fact that there hasn’t been much similarity per se, but I have to say that Jormungand is one of those shows you won’t regret watching either way. Looking forward, it looks like we’ll have the first episode of a multi-part arc next week, and it looks awfully exciting. Sadly I have finals coming up and I’ll be pretty busy, but I know I’ll definitely find some time to watch and post about it.

**On a side note, I just want to mention how much I’m loving Itou Shizuka at the moment. Granted, she keeps reminding me of Haruka from Amagami SS, but she does a darn good job as Koko and really brings the character to life.

I wish ppl would stop comparing this show to Black Lagoon. This show is more realistic than that. If you like Jormungand don’t forget to check out Lord of War http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399295/ starring Nicholas Cage. It’s based on a true story of a Russian arms dealer.

I agree that the comparisons to Black Lagoon must stop. Jormungand is capable of providing just as much satisfaction to the viewer that Black Lagoon did, but in a very different way. Outside of some superficial similarities, these two shows don’t have much in common.

So what exactly are the differences between Black Lagoon and Jormungand? I still don’t see any significant differences. Hyperactive heroines, trigger happy cast, exaggerated gun/knife fights, explosions galore, backstabbing/fraudulent deals etc. Yes, I suppose these are “superficial” comparisons but aside from that, we haven’t been offered much else have we?

I think this show will be consistently surprising me with how much content it can pack into a regular-length episode. Koko’s really making up the backbone of the action here, though; I’m interested to see if Jonah rears his head as a focal character in the next episode. The episode’s hilarious climax made the mid-episode meandering worthwhile; pacing seems to be the one problem so far, since a lot of time passes off-screen without much to herald the shift.

On a side note, merely from the OP and preview from the first episode, I was convinced that Mildred was a thin, creepy guy. Go figure.

This show is absolutely stunning. Koko exhibits a tactical cunning and an aura of confidence that makes her leadership absolutely enthralling to watch. I feel like the antagonism that Jonah was painted with in the opening segment has not been done justice. It should be a focal point, a divisive point, where all sorts of moral and emotional values clash in his decision to do what he does. Sure, there’s still a TON of room for that to develop, such as how he even was picked up, but I think that tension should be played up more.

I think we got a hint of that from his laugh at the end of the episode. When I look back on it now, perhaps he was simply exhilarated that he didn’t have to use the guns he hates so much after all. But you’re right, this episode was pretty much all about Koko… which, I think, is exactly the way she likes it.

I absolutely love the post! awesome job, Zephyr :3
Koko and her team are sure crazy bunch, but they are capable for sure… one great lesson from this episode… don’t get into the arm trading business if you are weak or extremely violent…
and yes, the BGM to the preview is golden! best preview BGM of the year hands down :)

It seems that in all deals Koko has a hidden agenda of stabilizing conflict zones by restoring balance of power and deterrence…
Also those with the Yuri NVG were right about the extent of Valmet’s dedication to Koko. It sadly seems played just for laughs with unreciprocated feelings.
Oh and if youre hunted in the mountains by attack helos, youre truly screwed. Good MANPADS would help but it seems those delivered by CCAT were junk.
Military dictionary for my comment:
MANPADS – Man-Portable AIR DEfence Systems – like SA-7, SA-16 or Stingers featyred in this ep.
NVG – night Vision Goggles, including the VERY specific use ones (Yuri!)

It seems that in all deals Koko has a hidden agenda of stabilizing conflict zones by restoring balance of power and deterrence…

That does indeed seem to be the case. And the stick with which she measures how much power any one faction should be afforded seems to be money; she did state that she would only sell to those who had the means to pay on the spot, after all. The richest = the fittest, or something, and should therefore be in control. Not saying that this is definitively what she thinks, but given the information that is available in these first two episodes, that’s as much as I can gather (I haven’t read the manga)…

The woman’s personality, on the other hand, is an open book, more likely than not falling into a subset of one of two general, over-arching personality types, the former being significantly more likely and interesting than the latter. The first is a variant of the infamous “some wo/men just want to watch the world burn” personality type for which the Batman villain Joker is so renowned. Like Joker, Koko gets a kick out of control, destruction and death; she enjoys being an arms dealer because these things are central to the job. But her personality diverges from that of Joker in the sense that her ego is so excessively inflated that it gets in the way of her penchant for destruction (This more likely than not, comes from being brought up in a proud and rich family); she perceives herself as being above all the other petty arms dealers who sell weapons simply for the sake of perpetuating conflict; within her own mind she elevates herself by adhering to something of a personal noble lie where the true objective of her gun-peddling is world peace through manipulating the balance of power- when it really is not; she’s just a self-deceiving, self-righteous madwoman who wants to watch the world burn…and she keep Jonah around to make sure that she doesn’t get ahead of her own ego by having too much fun destroying things.

The second possible personality type is that Koko’s flamboyant, ruthless appearance is simply a front put up for show; (Something akin to how folks say that female politicians have to put up a “hard front” to succeed in a world of men) when deep down inside she’s really a peace-lover who was driven to violence by unavoidable circumstances. This variant of Koko keeps the gun-hating Jonah around as a reminder of of her true, hidden self, as a reaffirmation of her own buried identity. The context of the way she is portrayed in the show makes this second possibility significantly more remote than the first; there were hardly any instances in the first two episodes that could even arguably be interpreted as signs of remorse, instead every overt indicator seems to point towards her getting a kick out of being generally ruthless and destructive.

The most interesting scenario, however, would be one where she was somehow part of both categories; one where she starts off as a type 2, but over time degenerates into a type 1. Meaning that she began selling arms for the noble purpose of achieving world peace by manipulating the global balance of power but gradually becomes numb to all the violence occurring around her, and ends up disillusioned with her vision. Eventually, the way she perceives violence shifts and she begins to find pleasure in destruction; the flamboyance that was once a front now becoming the the true face of her persona. Ah, is not the road to hell truly paved with good intentions…

Loco-Koko wasn’t kidding when she said she never had any formal education o.0 Awesome find, by the way. I find it hilarious how Koko’s had that smile since she was a kid (never mind the fact that she’s been selling weapons since she was a kid…)

The episode was great, showing us once again these characters have a past, and they don’t reveal all at once. Conversations flow casually and overall feels like a much more mature show than most animes this season. Lovin’ it.

I watched the first episode, and if I wanted to watch child soldiers, I’d dig out my Gunslinger Girl DvD’s. This series ended up on my chopping block, for better or for worse. I’ll probably follow it here to see if I should ever change my mind ;).

Black Lagoon is Black Lagoon, Jormungand is Jormungand, and don’t pretend Black Lagoon was the first manga/anime series to have violent killing and all that jazz, because it’s not and it ain’t the first to put it on the map or anything so don’t pretend that Black Lagoon is like the Mario of it’s genre.